Europe’s largest eagle nests in Spain
The white-tailed eagle was declared extinct in Spain by the government in 2018.But less than a decade later the first chick to hatch in Iberia in a reintroduction project has flown the nest and is ‘becoming independent’. While some...
Crossing borders on the hikers’ ‘camino’
The Camino da Geira e dos Arrieiros is a fantastic walk. The 10-day pilgrim route, which starts in Braga in Portugal and ends in Santiago de Compostela, offers magnificent scenery and a great variety of countryside. Passing through the mountainous border lands,...
Pilgrim practicalities
There are few things you need to do before setting out on the Camino da Geira e dos Arrieiros ; not least, getting to Braga in Portugal, which might take some time. Starting in Alicante, there are a few options. I took a high-speed train to Madrid (see...
Cross-border ‘camino’; stage 1
No-one would say that the first 10km of the Camino da Geira e dos Arrieiros are a thing of beauty. It’s cityscapes, concrete and roads, some of which have heavy traffic (breathing in petrol, that’s not entertainment); with a few quieter...
Cross-border ‘camino’; stage 2
It had been raining for 36 hours when I woke at the start of Day 2 and I was worried about flooding on the paths. With the forecast predicting the precipitation would continue all day, I knew my best option would be to stick to minor roads for as much of...
Cross-border ‘camino’; stage 3
Day 3 was a revelation. The rain stopped at around 10am and I had views. This stage is one of the most scenic of the Camino da Geira e dos Arrieiros, with half of the route going through Portugal’s only national park, the Peneda-Gerês, which is...
Cross-border ‘camino’; stage 4 (part 1)
After a night in Spain, it’s back to Portugal on the fourth stage of the Camino da Geira e dos Arrieiros. But it takes a while to get there. My route from the spa village of Os Baños to Castro Laboreiro was approximately 26km, with around 800...
Cross-border ‘camino’; stage 4 (part 2)
As I went through the village of A Pereira the rain started again; it was to continue for the next 20 hours, becoming torrential during the afternoon, night and following morning. In the village I passed the old washhouse and shared a greeting with an...
Final frontier; back to Spain (stage 5)
When I was getting ready to start stage 5 of the Camino da Geira e dos Arrieiros – which runs from Castro Laboreiro to Cortegada, covering around 29km with 550 metres of ascent – it had been raining very heavily for more than 18 hours. And this was on...
Cross-border ‘camino’; stage 6 (part 1)
The wide variety of landscapes on the Camino da Geira e dos Arrieiros is evident again on this stage, which runs from Cortegada to Pazos de Arenteiro. Rivers dominate the first part of the walk, with the mighty Miño to the fore. Then it’s the...
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